Free Rules of Honour by Matt Hilton

troublesome at all, and Yukiko had blamed herself for having got him in trouble. She had asked one of the soldiers when her father could come back. The man had laughed at her – brutal and harsh – then spat on her. Wiping his hot spittle from her cheek she told him he was a nasty man. The soldier had jabbed at her with his long knife and she had fled screaming. He had laughed even louder .
    Yukiko hid from the soldiers from then on, avoiding them as best she could. It was difficult, because she was forced to work alongside the women with guards watching their every move, even when they were in the communal eating, laundry and washing areas there was always a soldier on the door .
    Yukiko couldn’t remember when first she met Rose Kurihara. It must have been back in San Francisco, because she could never think of a time when her friend wasn’t in her life. They were much the same age, with a shared background, and they had bonded within days of arriving at Rohwer, becoming inseparable. They were best friends, almost sisters, and they ran together. They had both learned to hide from the men with long knives. But there was one occasion when Rose did not hide in time .
     
    ‘He raped her? A child?’
    Yukiko hung her head in shame. ‘I watched. I was hiding under a pile of laundry in the washroom. He had come in while Rose was bathing, but I had already done so and was drying myself. When I heard the springs on the door, I quickly dropped down and crawled to where the used towels were bundled. I tried to call out to Rose but she could not hear me for the running water. I saw the soldier walk into the room and watch Rose. She did not know he was there. He had the eyes of a snake, the way they slithered over her nakedness.’
    I did not want to picture the terrible deed that followed, but it was unavoidable. I felt sick, even contemplating that a grown man would do such to a child. I found that I was now hanging my head in shame, mirroring Yukiko, as if somehow I had failed to protect Rose too.
     
    The soldier was a big man, a giant. His uniform was dusty from being on guard duty, with dark rings of sweat under his arms and down the centre of his back. Sweat glistened on his brow as well, and he had licked his lips. Perhaps he tasted the salt – or was he imagining how sweet Rose would taste when he ran his tongue over her body?
    Rose was oblivious to his presence. She was washing the soap from her hair, and humming a tune that was lost amid the splash of water.
    Yukiko thought that if she only stood up, then the soldier would know he had been seen and would go away. But she was too afraid. What if he grew angry that she had hidden herself and punished her? She looked at his gun and the wicked length of steel that rose a foot in length from its tip. That knife could go all the way through Yukiko with many inches to spare.
    The soldier had walked slowly towards Rose, and Yukiko saw how violently his fingers were trembling as he’d reached to touch her raven hair. Yukiko fought down the urge to shout out a warning, her gaze bouncing from the tips of the giant’s fingers to the gleaming tip of his knife. When he grabbed Rose’s shoulder, Yukiko had to cover her mouth with her hands. Rose had jumped. Not immediately frightened because perhaps she thought it was only her friend playing a prank on her. Then her head had come up and she’d looked into the face of the soldier. She was small, waif-like, the nubs of her breasts barely an indication on her chest, yet she had thrown an arm over them, the other hand covering her modesty down below. The soldier didn’t waste time with speech: there was no attempt at calming her – in his eyes she was his to do with as he pleased. He placed his rifle down and reached for her, grabbing her at her shoulders and lifting her from the shower stall. Rose was stricken with terror, her mouth wide but emitting no sound. The giant still clamped one hand over her face, encircling her with his